It’s a handsome space, from the gleaming Japanese tile on the floor to the wood ceiling punctuated with four skylights. It’s my favorite thing in here.”įor anyone who has been in the space many times - which accounts for many Chicago beer drinkers - the revamp offers fresh appreciation for what Half Acre built. “It’s like asking if pizza is your favorite food.
“Everyone kept asking, ‘Are you keeping that up?’” La Rose said. That included almost all fixtures and materials, including that wall of wavy wood that is one of the most dynamic visuals of any bar room in Chicago. Otherwise, Zimmer and La Rose said, they didn’t feel an urgency to change things for the sake of change. “If you’re going to take a picture in the taproom, it’s not a terrible place to do it.” “It’s cool to stand in front of that thing,” Zimmer said. Hop Butcher has made two other additions, both nodding to its identity: a commissioned painting of a Washington state hop field the partners visited in 2019 and, on a brick wall just inside the front door, the opening lines of Carl Sandburg’s legendary poem from which the brewery took its name (“Hog Butcher for the World/ Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat/ Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler / Stormy, husky, brawling/ City of the Big Shoulders”). “I didn’t realize how bold and striking the mural would be,” Zimmer said.
It was a subtle transformation that surprised even Zimmer and La Rose. The mural - warm, mingled shades of red, orange and yellow as a bird spreads its wings against the sun - fosters an intimate space, dominating the room in a way one single thing did not when it was Half Acre’s. In fact, the mural is a riff on one of those labels, for a Mexican-style lager called Soar that was released two years ago. The art will be familiar to Hop Butcher fans, as it was painted by Dan Grzeca, who also designs Hop Butcher’s labels. The most striking addition is a mural snaking across parts of three walls, including the one facing customers as they step into the room. The taproom will be the draw, though, and as much as it maintains its old vibe, it also feels markedly different. Just as Half Acre did, Hop Butcher will also sell beer to go, four-packs of 16-ounce cans and 64- and 32-ounce growlers, along with shirts, glassware and other merchandise from a shop beside the taproom. In a sign of the times, they’ll also serve an array of nonalcoholic options, including Metropolis hot and cold coffee, sparkling tea and nonalcoholic beer. “Our tastes can vary, and we’re excited from a brewing standpoint to lean into that.” “But we were brought up on all styles of beer,” La Rose added. “We still love IPAs, and we’re making a ton of them,” Zimmer said. In addition to several hazy IPAs, there will be a saison, an extra special bitter, an Italian-style Pilsner and a hefeweizen on tap.
#HOP BUTCHER LINCOLN AVE FULL#
Though Hop Butcher is largely known for its intensely fruity hazy India pale ales, the Lincoln Avenue taproom will serve “a full drinking experience,” La Rose said. The 14 taps will flow with both beer made on-site - Hop Butcher began brewing there in August - and at a production brewery south of the city the brand acquired in 2021. in May 2021, Hop Butcher is finally ready to pull back the curtain, opening at 11 a.m. “We stayed true to what we felt was already magical about that space and tried to breathe our own magic into it.”Ī year and a half after announcing plans to take over Half Acre’s original brewery and taproom at 4257 N. “Half Acre built a beautiful place to drink beer,” Zimmer said.
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